Barnaby on WGR just now and said he cant imagine the sabres NOT dealing Connolly today.

Yet, Hamilton is 100% convinced that none of the pending UFAs (Connolly, Grier, Montador, Niedermeyer) will be traded unless the Sabres can acquire a player with term remaining for them. It's Hamilton's understanding from discussions with Regier as recently as Saturday that Regier does not plan to give up any players without getting a roster player back.

Of course, with the Boyes acquisition for a non-player return, dealing Connolly for a pick would more or less amount to a player-for-player swap.

Yet, Hamilton is 100% convinced that none of the pending UFAs (Connolly, Grier, Montador, Niedermeyer) will be traded unless the Sabres can acquire a player with term remaining for them. It's Hamilton's understanding from discussions with Regier as recently as Saturday that Regier does not plan to give up any players without getting a roster player back.

Of course, with the Boyes acquisition for a non-player return, dealing Connolly for a pick would more or less amount to a player-for-player swap.

Exactly, which is fine. It can be a bit difficult, since you may have to have two seperate trades with 2 teams lined up at the same time.

aka. Connoly for a 2nd, then trade that 2nd with say a prospect for liles, etc...
Seems like thats what Darcy usually does. Happened with Bernier I believe, and a couple others.

We debate opinions on here. Obviously if we disgree with one then we think its wrong. Whats the issue?

Btw if you haven't seen that Goose for 2 yrs then you haven't watch the last several weeks. Yet again proving my point that it doesn't matter how he plays now posters ignore it and stick with their preconceived ideas of what he should be.

I think most people on these boards express their opinions on here like they are facts. Thats why people get riled up here.

MY OPINION I say Gaustad is grossly overpaid. I think if he was not on the Sabres he would be in the AHL. But Because he is a blue collar type of player, we keep him up here. He might be decent at draws(as a few people will surely point out, his stats say otherwise) but he loses a ton of important ones.

He has a bad skill set; with that said you need guys like him on your team. However, he has grown soft on this team. He used to have the hunger, but that has gone south since he re-signed. I think you can find a few players better than him to do the same job. I think Ellis is a better player that knows his role and doesn't cost that much for doing it.

BTW, wouldn't you want your best faceoff men to be in the top 9? Better yet in the top 6?

He also mentioned that they were a "couple of teams in the East" and that is was "right now." I expect Regier is waiting on a better offer.

This is a little off-topic, but I don't understand how you move connolly without bringing in an additional center? Boyes is great, but he addresses an old need. If they dump TC, then they have a depth problem again.

WHY THE SABRES SHOULD KEEP CONNOLLY
But the fact is, with Derek Roy out, the Sabres simply don't have anyone better in the middle. Boyes can play center, but why clear out Connolly just to put someone who's been at right wing in the middle? The depth chart is better with Connolly on it.

A center chart that reads Connolly-Boyes-Hecht-Gaustad may not be the league's best, but it's still better than Boyes-Hecht-Gaustad-McCormick. And if the Sabres don't like Boyes in the middle? Well, then they certainly need to keep Connolly because a team can't expect to be a playoff squad with Hecht as the No. 1 center. That's not his role.

Having it continue for a couple of more months isn't going to hurt, and it's the right move.

---John Vogl

WHY THE SABRES SHOULD TRADE CONNOLLY

Now it's time for another statement: Getting rid of the one player who is as big a symbol as any for the on-ice product feeling so stale.

Since the calendar hit 2011, the Sabres have played their best hockey and Connolly has had basically nothing to do with it. Starting on Jan. 1, he's got two goals, 10 assists and is a minus-1 (And that figure is bloated by his plus-5 in the Sabres' two 7-6 games).

Still, I don't see where all of Connolly's experience is making any difference either. He's just a body taking up space. He's done nothing to help this playoff push. Injury or not, he did nothing last year against Boston. If he was hurt, he shouldn't have been on the ice. Get another center in here or simply let Luke Adam or Paul Byron play. They can't be any worse. Get a draft pick for Connolly and call it a day.

This is a little off-topic, but I don't understand how you move connolly without bringing in an additional center? Boyes is great, but he addresses an old need. If they dump TC, then they have a depth problem again.

Thats the thing. Darcy would. There is NO way he trades Connolly and doesn't fill that gap within the next 4 hours.

We brought in Boyes to replace Connolly. In a perfect, injury-less world, Connolly would be expendable now, but with Roy out, he's our other top-6 center. This offseason, we'll lose Connolly and essentially replace him with Roy in the lineup.

Barnaby and Hamilton are chumps. I listened to both of them on WGR today. Terrible in so many ways.

This is a little off-topic, but I don't understand how you move connolly without bringing in an additional center? Boyes is great, but he addresses an old need. If they dump TC, then they have a depth problem again.

That's the "right now" part of it. I suspect Regier is trying to land another center of some stripe, possibly using a scoring line player as tradebait to make it happen. If he can make that move, it frees him up to sell Connolly.

My guess is that DR can't find a center he likes at a price he's willing to pay and that is primarily the reason he won't move Connolly (rather than not being offered enough for TC). I feel we're done for the day.

My guess is that DR can't find a center he likes at a price he's willing to pay and that is primarily the reason he won't move Connolly (rather than not being offered enough for TC). I feel we're done for the day.

I get a kick out of these digs at Goose I've been reading. He has been playing 16-17 min a night pretty much since Roy went down. He has played very well in those minutes but that never seems to matter on here.

I LOVE Guastad (I even have his jersey). I just don't think he's a 3rd line center.

1) Connolly moves today:
a) Regier trades Connolly and gets draft pick(s)/prospects in return. I'd be happy with anything better than a 4th round pick in exchange for their use of 3 months of Timmay.
b) Regier trades Connolly and gets a player in return with some term left on their contract. We just got a an asset we can use now, maybe a productive one, in exchange for a Connolly rental.

2) Connolly doesn't move today:
c) Regier low balls him or gives him a fair offer and he signs. We still have to put up with his shenanigans, but we do so at a much better price. Maybe we use that saved money elsewhere. Bonus: we don't have to replace a center.
d) Regier low balls him or gives him a fair offer and he doesn't sign. If he wants more money after not earning his keep, them F him- I'm happy to let him walk away. Yeah, we don't get any return, but the return we get is NOT having the perennially injured money-grabbing suckfest.

[The only other scenario I can think of is e) Regier overpaying Connolly, but that is straight up balls-stupid, and I trust Regier to do better than that.]

This may be a silver-lining type post, but Connolly is an asset we still own, and that grants us some opportunities for production or return.